Hi All. I thought I would start a thread for people like me who are brand new to Atkins (or back after many years) and who need support, guiadance from more experienced members, accountability, tips, ideas, recipes, menus, cyberhugs, etc. We can share our weight loss goals and cheer each other on!
Denise

Hi Neezie!!! I am fairly new to low carb. This is my 3rd week on induction. Good to see your excitement. Keep posting and coming to LCF to help you stay on track. I look forward to being able to change my stats to show I lost some weight. I started at 226 and am now at 215. I lost 11 lbs in my first 2 weeks.

Hi Fluffy,
Wow! What a great amount to lose so quickly! How inspiring. Can you post a typical day's menu? I finally got my ketosticks today and it said I was in deep ketosis. Boy, did I feel it. It felt like I had the flu and I think they call that the "induction flu". I went realllly low carb today and upped my fat. It said in Atkins book to do that if you are having a hard time losing in induction. Today's the first day where my appetite is actually gone, so that is a good sign, I think.

Here's to reaching our goals!

My menu for today:

B- ham and cheese omelette, with a raw celery stick and a couple of radishes.

s- 2 muffins made from just flax with butter. (these help me stay regular xo)

L- "Reuben Salad"- made up a salad with coleslaw, turkey pastrami, and cheese

Well, I tried the fat fast yesterday and felt like ick, but it must have sent me into deep ketosis because I was NOT hungry at all. I am back in induction today because eating that much fat made me queasy. My clothes are getting larger. I am going to be weighing myself weekly, every Tuesday. This tuesday I was at 238. I hope to be down to 235 by next Tuesday.

Thanks, Fluffy!
(I love calling you fluffy! Even if you do tell my your name, I will probably keep calling you Fluffy because it's so cute!)
Your dinner sounds yummy. I will have to get one of those. To think we can lose weight having a double cheeseburger That's pretty cool. Who needs the bun if we're getting skinny?

I just made these really great devilled eggs with tuna in them. Yum.

I think my dinner is going to be Lowcarb Linda's deep dish pizza. I had it the other night and couldn't really tell it was lowcarb.

Hi, there! I just restarted last Monday. I haven't updated my profile on here in a while, so I'm SURE I weigh a lot more than my profile states haha. I lost 5.6 my first week, then gained 1.6 (menstrual cycle may be a culprit). So far, I'm stalled a bit, but hoping it gets moving soon!

This is the middle of my fourth week. So far I have lost 21lbs. I just finished my lunch at work. I had a salad from Subway with chicken, bacon, lettuce, olive, green peppers and ranch. I couldn't finish it. I was full quickly. Never though I'd say that!!! But it's true that I am not very hungry anymore. I never snack anymore. Just not hungry.

My biggest obstacle is diet soda and desserts. Now all I allow myself is 1 soda a day and diet jello for dessert. Anything else seems to trigger more cravings.

I have been finding that my body seems to cycle through the weight. For example, I will loose and gain within a week. But by the end of the week the overall result is a loss. I guess this is why you shouldn't weigh yourself everyday.

I have never been able to get past the moderate level of ketosis. I don't know why.

Anyway, I have found this website very helpful and encouraging. There are a lot of really knowledgeable, friendly, helpful people. Glad to be a part of it!

Laura, Welcome!!! You look so pretty in your pic! I have a lot to lose, too. We can do this!

Kristall, Welcome! I hear you about the hunger levels going down. It's pretty wild to not be obsessing about food all the time. As far as the ketosticks, I think I read somewhere that any turn in color is all you need to see happen. I agree about not weighing every day. I was doing that on another thread, and I started to get pretty discouraged (I do not lose quickly), so I have decided to do every Tuesday. My clothes are really getting bigger now, though, so that's cool.

Today's food so far:

B two flax muffins (just flax) and butter. Two pieces bacon
S 2 devilled eggs with tuna
L turkey club sandwich between two pieces of lettuce. Very good.
D-I think tonight is grilling cheeseburgers with a salad.

I STILL feel the induction flu. I wonder if some people have it longer than others. The more water I drink, the less it gets to me. I am excited for when my body figures out how to burn fat and not sugar!

I'm not counting calories, just carbs. You know, now that I've hit that "not hungry" thing, I don't even finish my meals anymore. I used to be member of the clean plate club. But now my body just seems to know when to stop. This is a new experience!

So my thinking is that in the beginning you probably need the calories and fat to jump start the ketosis. But then when you reach a point where your body is self-regulating you probably are naturally cutting calories. This however, is just my opinion. I'm certainly no expert.

By the way, I used to have irritable bowel syndrome. It just went away this week. Also, I am feeling less achy and stiff.

Thanks for that info, Kristall. I agree that my appetite is waning as well. It's just I eat such rich food, it's still hard to get out of that old dieting mindset.

So cool about your IBS going away! I have had no hypoglycemia since I started on July 4th, so it's pretty incredible the health benefits that come.

I am still experiencing induction flu, but I read that some people do have it for even three weeks before their body figures out how to burn fat instead of sugar for fuel. My husband is experiencing it too.

Today, my ketosticks went from dark, to light, to dark again, but it always registered.

I sure hope that when I weigh myself on Tuesday, I will have lost weight. I was on a challenge board and people were losing soooo fast and were weighing themselves every day. I got a little discouraged, but I am going to stick this out and tweak as I need to. Maybe if I don't lose, I'll ask some experienced members for help.

Hi! I'm brand new to Atkins. I lost 42lbs using a low cal/low fat type diet, but then stalled and it seemed like nothing I did was making the scale move. I got stuck at 158 and just sat there forever, so I decided to try something different. I started Atkins induction on thursday, so 2 days ago since it's Saturday afternoon here in Japan, and as of this morning I'm down to 155.2. I feel like I'm finally breaking through the stall! I haven't seen 155 on my scale for years lol.

Hello everyone, this is my second time around. The first time was 2005 and I lost 100 lbs. but unfortunately they have found me. I did really great the first week, then TOM had to visit, so it looks like with the water weight gain Im still 7 lbs down, and Im feeling better than I have in a long time. I love the fact that with all this protein I stay thirsty. I think Ive drank enough water to float the ark.

Welcome, Amanda and Jenniecole! So cool that you hit a new low, Amanda! I bet the food tastes better than low fat low calories, too! LOL. Jenniecole, I too lost a lot of weight on Atkins a long time ago and "It found me" and then some! Lesson learned: Never go back to sugar, ever, ever... Period.

Today, I finally started to feel the induction flu go away. Boy have I had a long bout with it. It must mean my metabolism or whatever was pretty out of whack. I hope that it stays away, but if it takes awhile to get my energy back, that's okay! It was nice to have energy today. I actually felt kind of high. They say once your body learns how to burn fat instead of sugar, you have endless reserves of energy(if you're overweight).

Since my hypogclycemia is getting so much better, I allowed myself to eat only when hungry today, which wasn't very often.

B-eggs cooked in coconut oil. Yum. Flax muffin made with just flax, oil, and egg, yum.
L-Steak and Caesar salad
s- one devilled egg.
D going to have some ribs and creamed spinach.

I have been drinking a ton of water, too, Jennie. I think I was dehydrated and now I am feeling better....hmmm.

I just bought a candida cleanse, just in case my slow weight loss might have been from that, so we'll see.

My clothes are getting noticeably bigger on me, so crossing fingers that Tuesday's weigh in is good news.

Today, DH and I started the candida cleanse, just in case we have candida from all of those years of high carb and sugar. So, I'll see how that goes. I have been wondering if the induction flu I've been feeling might also be candida die off from the yeast not getting any sugar to eat!

My energy levels are so weird. I will get really tired, and then get a burst of energy. But, in this weird way, I am glad I got hypoglycemia, because it is Forcing me to stay lowcarb (since it's the only thing that keeps my blood sugars stable). I feel like it may take my metabolism a while to heal, but I know I am doing the right thing for the long run.

Yesterday's food:
B- one flax muffin and two eggs scrambled in coconut oil(yum).
L-steak with caeser salad
D-one rib with creamed spinach and small salad with blue cheese

I'm not counting calories, just carbs. You know, now that I've hit that "not hungry" thing, I don't even finish my meals anymore. I used to be member of the clean plate club. But now my body just seems to know when to stop. This is a new experience!

So my thinking is that in the beginning you probably need the calories and fat to jump start the ketosis. But then when you reach a point where your body is self-regulating you probably are naturally cutting calories. This however, is just my opinion. I'm certainly no expert.

By the way, I used to have irritable bowel syndrome. It just went away this week. Also, I am feeling less achy and stiff.

Hello everyone..I'm on day 5 of induction. I officially restarted after yoyoing over the past year. I started low carbing a few months back but just kinda doing my own thing. I am reading the book and following in thoroughly. I used to do Lean for Life years ago. I used to frequent this board a lot too, but over the last 5 or so years I had just dropped doing low carb completely.

So far I'm down 2.5 lbs. I find though I yoyo in that even, cause this morning I was back up .5. I find that I'm still hungry all the time, so I think I'm just going to eat more meat/fat. I wasn't adding a lot of veggies yet. I guess I'll have to pick up some sticks to see if I'm in ketosis.

I am so much fuller using Atkins than I was when I was doing the low fat diet. I felt like I was always starving, but these past few days I haven't been hungry at all even at meal times. It's a weird feeling putting butter on everything after not using butter at all for years. As of this morning I'm down to 153lbs, so from 158-153 in 4 days! I haven't craved sugar at all either which is really weird for me since that used to be all I wanted to eat! Thanks for the welcomes !

Welcome, Jillie B. Your profile pic is so beautiful. I think we just tweak induction until we start losing. I think adding more fat really helps kill the whole appetite for the day for sure.

Thanks, Madcommodore! If you have any advice or wisdom, I would love your feedback.

Amanda, Soooo cool about the quick weight loss. I am stunnd by how much fat I can eat. I just switched from low fat low calorie diet, too and I was losing at a snail's pace. Like .2 pounds a day on 1200 cals of tasteless food. Yesterday I had two hot dogs on lettuce buns with mayo, relish and cheese. Huh? And my clothes are getting huge.
I was praying for an easier way and maybe the Atkins diet is it.

I am noticing hunger levels dropping considerably during the day and because my hypoglycemia seems to be cured (knock on wood), I can go hours without eating. Before Atkins, if I didn't eat every two hours, I would start to shake and get dizzy and feel like I might pass out. Now that I am on Induction, I went 6 whole hours without eating anything. Wow!

Hey Neezie...oh it is. I made a lot, so I can just reheat when I need a quick side. My husband loves it too.
Thats good that your hypoglycemia seems under control and that your hunger level are falling. What day of induction are you on now?
I haven't felt hungry today either, but we will see about the evening where it seems to be a problem.

I was down another .5 this morning, which was a nice treat. I'll measure at the end of the week to see if there is a difference. I forgot to measure at the beginning and just measured yesterday.

So far eating is
b-2 eggs, 1 pc of ham, little bit of red peppers and green onions, tiny speck of cheese, fried in butter
s-4 almonds (even though I know they were frowned upon in induction)
l-2 wendys bacon burgers - minus cheese and bun
s-rest of daughters burger pattie, very small diet coke, didn't drink it all.
d-undecided probably cauli mash again and chicken.
I'm a little worried about the diet coke. cause of aspertame and caffine. and I didn't even enjoy it!
lots of water and will probably have one crystal light (with splenda) tonight.

One of the things I am noticing since doing induction is that I am starting to not be obsessed with food at all. Like before I used to think about food 24/7. Now it just doesn't come to my mind. Even when I think it's time to eat, it's like "Whatever". This is very good.

I know, Jillieb. That was me, too. Plan my whole day and all my entertainment around eating. I had no idea that it was the carbs that were doing that to me. I just thought I had no will power. But Dr. Atkins says the carbs are chemically addictive. I get it now. Plus, I don't even really miss carbs now because you can make pretty much anything low carb.

I think I might actually be done with induction flu because now I am starting to get really even and continuous energy after two weeks of feeling sick. I also am so cured from hypoglycemia now that I can go six hours without eating which will so help my weight loss! Who says this WOE isn't healthy when it is so obviously healing me!

Ketosticks bright purple today.

Yest
B flax muffin with eggs scrambled in coconut oil, a little cheese and bacon
L cheeseburger no bun with salad
D two hot dogs in lettuce "buns" with mayo and low carb ketchup and no carb rrelish
S small slice nocarb cheesecake with whipped cream